Defying some predictions of physician shortages, healthcare providers are apparently hiring more doctors despite the weakened economy, according to an annual survey published by one of the nation’s largest human resource consulting firms.

The new SullivanCotter 2011 Physician Compensation and Productivity Service Report found that most of the nation’s hospitals and healthcare systems actually hired more doctors last year and plan to continue adding staff this year.

The survey, which contains employment information from 424 healthcare organizations representing some 66,400 providers, found that nearly three-quarters of survey participants increased their staffing levels and plan to add more physicians throughout 2012.

The 19th annual SullivanCotter report said that 12 specialists and nine primary care doctors were added on average by each healthcare organization.

“These data are consistent with the labor market shift in physician employment that has been occurring over the past few years,” Kim Mobley, practice leader for physician compensation at SullivanCotter, said in statement on the report. “We expect this trend to continue for some time. This shift in the labor market has resulted in what has become a highly competitive labor market for physicians as organizations and physicians align to provide services in a high quality, more efficient manner.”